


he knows

by rosewritings



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bisexual Archie Andrews, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Getting Together, Jarchie - Freeform, Jughead Jones is Not Asexual, M/M, archie andrews - Freeform, jughead jones - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-27
Updated: 2017-08-27
Packaged: 2018-12-20 15:27:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11923797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosewritings/pseuds/rosewritings
Summary: the 5 times archie and jughead kissed in secret, and the one time they didn’t.





	he knows

**Author's Note:**

> i had this fic on my computer with the intention of editing it into something good but i never got the time so here it is. ending is insp. by a cinderella story w/ hilary duff because that movie is a national treasure. lowercase + shitty grammar is on purpose. hope u enjoy <3

i.

the treehouse suspended in the big oak tree in the jones’s backyard was horrifying. it was rickety, made of plywood badly bolted together, and it housed the old rope ladder that would probably break if twisted the wrong way. but, that didn’t stop archie and jughead spending hours and hours on end up there. 

to an outsider looking in, it would have just looked like two kids on a friday afternoon, complaining about their ninth grade teachers and wondering what else there was to eat. to the boys, though, it was a very heated discussion about betty cooper, and how archie had kissed her after he’d gotten the first A on a spelling test in his whole entire life (because she’d tutored him, just to make sure her and archie would always be in the same class). there was no other way to explain his gratitude other than to kiss her behind the school in the courtyard, surrounded by white lilies and bright green elm trees. they’d hugged after, betty silently understanding why archie did it. a congratulations kiss, nothing more. 

“you’re just jealous,” archie’s tone was lighthearted, a warm smile tugging at his sunburnt lips. “am not! you wish i was jealous. if anything, i feel bad for betty.” archie punched jughead’s arm, leaning back against the wall. he knew if he wasn’t careful, it would give out under him, so he was gentle. “have you kissed any girls, jughead?” jughead blushed a nice shade of beet. “no, archie. i don’t have girls running after me like you do.” archie rolled his eyes. “neither do i, idiot. it was only betty.” jughead looked down into his lap. “i wish girls wanted to kiss me. i’ve never even tried it. everyone else has.” nothing really bothered jughead, but this did, for whatever reason. “i mean, it perplexes me. i’m awesome.” “i don’t know what ‘perplexes’ means, jug.”

with much deliberation, archie sat up, across from jughead, with a serious look on his face. “if you wanted to try it, i’d kiss you.” jughead rolled his eyes. “yeah, whatever, archie. you’re not a girl.” “you don’t have to like girls. i don’t think i do sometimes…” archie trails off. “you mean, you don’t like girls? like, you’re gay?” archie leans his head back. “no. not gay. just, not… i don’t only like girls, i guess. does that bother you?” archie is suddenly quiet. “of course not. like i care.” archie looks up. “you sure?” “yeah. i’m sure. as long as you don’t start liking country music, we’ll get along just fine.”

jughead leans forward, kissing archie’s lips quickly, before returning to sitting cross legged in front of the other boy. he didn’t even have time to register it before jughead was sat back in front of him, his eyes open wide. archie’s cheeks turned as red as his hair, his eyes looking up at jughead’s with confusion. “there. now i can say i kissed someone.” archie smirks lazily. “yeah. i guess you can.”

“promise you wont tell anyone we kissed?” archie spits into his hand, holding it out. “i don’t know what i am yet. and i don’t want it coming back to my dad that i kissed a boy. he’d probably freak.” jughead nods. “we can pretend it never happened. our little secret.” he spits in his own hand, wrapping it around archie’s, solidifying their promise in a spit-shake. 

ii. 

seven minutes in heaven had been the bane of jughead’s existence for his entire high school life. his skin crawled when he thought of being pushed into a cooped up closet, chest to chest with someone that he didn’t even know that well, let alone want to kiss. although parties usually weren’t his scene at all (especially football parties, complete with cheerleaders taking their tops off and people dry humping on the couches, the smell of stale beer lingering throughout whoever’s house), his whole friend group had begged him to come. for what reason, he was unsure.

the house was packed with people, and jughead thought if he could sit by the food table and snack on cheezies and drink 7-up for an hour, and then silently slip out the front door to walk back home, he would make it out alive. when he finally decided to leave for good, unluckily for him, archie spotted him. “jug!” he called over the blaring music. jughead closed his eyes, scrunching them together as he turned. he met archie, a beer in his hand and his cheeks red under his spray of freckles. “leaving already?” “i was just gonna get some… fresh air…” archie already had his arm around his neck, pulling him back into the crowd. 

jughead was met on the other side of the wall of people by a small group sitting in a circle with an empty bottle in the middle. “it’s archie’s turn!” cheryl yelled, her screechy voice piercing in jughead’s ears. archie pulled jughead down with him, leaning over to spin the bottle. of course, it landed right on jughead. jughead shook his head vehemently, and veronica stifled a drunken laugh. “what a twist!” jughead put his hands up in defence. “i’d rather… no offence, arch…” cheryl had a cold twinkle in her eye. “do you forfeit? if you forfeit, that means i get gingerbread all to myself…” jughead clenched his jaw, because he hated cheryl. ever since she ratted him out when she caught him spray painting the side of a building when he was 14, he couldn’t stand her. he grabbed archie’s upper arm forcefully. “no. it’s ok.”

7 minutes.

archie and jughead stumbled into the nearest closet, pulling on the string that flicked the bulb above their heads on. “what the hell are we even supposed to do in here?” jughead groaned, eyes looking anywhere but at archie's. “we’re supposed to kiss, jughead… that’s what this game’s for.” jughead feels his chest against archie’s, and he entertains the thought for a minute. he kinda wants to, honestly. despite that day in the treehouse, he hasn't kissed anyone else, and that doesn’t even feel like a real kiss. 

6 minutes.

archie feels awkward now, because there’s nothing to do except stand here in extremely close proximity and wait for their time to be up. archie is a little drunk, but sober enough to know that his heart is beating faster than it ever had when he was pressed up against some cheerleader. this feels real, life or death, now or never. 

5 minutes.

archie lunges forward, his lips full contact onto jughead’s. jughead stumbles back a little, knocking off a towel from the shelf behind him. archie’s lips are warm, and jughead registers that archie is kissing him, but nothing else. his hands don’t know what to do. archie pulls back, breathless. before he can say anything, jughead lets himself reconnect with archie, but with more passion this time. 

4 minutes.

his brain kicks into overdrive. archie is kissing him, warm lips on warm lips. his hands wrap around archie and bury themselves in his hair, while archie hums back into jughead’s mouth in surprise that he’s reciprocated. archie’s whole body pushes jughead against the shelves behind him, his hands around the underside of jughead’s jacket and between the layers of clothes. 

3 minutes. 

archie’s tongue slides along the seam of jughead’s lips as he bites down on the bottom one, jughead’s nerves on fire. he lets archie do whatever he wants, because he knows this better. he knows what to do, where to touch and where to bite, and how to move his head. jughead is just the statue, letting archie have his way with the chisel. 

2 minutes.

when they finally pull apart. jughead’s got swollen lips and dilated pupils. his breath tastes of archie, and archie’s head is spinning. everything feels so fake right now, like they’ve found a fantasy world in some stranger’s closet. they just look into each other’s eyes in bewilderment, wondering how this happened. archie smiles, partly lazy and partly drunk. jughead just doesn’t know what to do. 

1 minute. 

“what does this-“ “don’t, archie. this isn’t anything.” archie is almost hurt, but he also understands. he knows that it’s too much for both of them right now to talk about whatever the hell this is, or whatever all the subtext and sly smiles and too-long-for-just-friends hugs mean. now’s not the time. archie just wipes his mouth instead, jughead straightening his jacket and pulling at archie’s hair to make it look less mussed. they share a look that says “don’t tell anyone.” 

time’s up.

cheryl opens the door, her smile wide and prying. “sounded like you guys had some fun in there, huh?” jughead rolls his eyes and makes a beeline for the front door, archie’s eyes just following him. 

iii. 

archie blows up the air mattress, watching jughead strum aimlessly at his guitar. he smiles at the disjointed chords jughead is playing, throwing a blanket overtop of the blow up mattress and meeting jughead on his bed. “thanks for letting me stay,” jughead puts archie’s guitar down and looks up at him. he’s sheepish, not wanting to meet archie’s eyes. as warm and supportive as the andrews’ had been (a better family than his own recently, quite frankly) he still felt slightly uncomfortable with this whole situation.

archie nods solemnly. “i’m sorry about your dad, jughead. i'm so sorry. you don’t deserve that. i hope you know.” jughead nods, because he does know. he does know he doesn’t deserve a deadbeat dad, and he definitely knows that his dad doesn’t deserve the never ending chances he keeps giving him. but, jughead is more softhearted than many would assume, and he doesn’t like to give up on people.

jughead sheds his boots and jacket, and archie undresses too. he’s puts on an old t-shirt, one that jughead can’t believe still fits, but archie looks good. he always looks good. jughead slides on his only pair of pyjama pants, leaving his white undershirt on and pulling his beanie off of his head to throw it onto the air mattress where he would be sleeping. hopefully not for long, but for tonight at least. 

they don’t talk about it. archie has questions on the tip of his tongue that he swallows, because it’s jughead’s first night here and now’s really not the time. it’s been a long day for jughead. he can see the purple bags under his eyes and how his stature is slumping, bones tired of keeping him up all day. it’s time for him to collapse. 

archie sits back down next to jughead on the edge of his bed, tentatively putting a hand on his back. jughead softens under archie’s touch, letting his body fall apart. archie leans down by the side of jughead’s face, watching tears drip out of jughead’s eyes and onto his white t-shirt. he wipes them away quickly. “it’s okay,” archie whispers, softer than audible by anyone other than jughead. “it’s not,” jughead keeps repeating, letting the tears fall freely now. it’s not, it’s not, it’s not. 

archie tips jughead’s head up with his other hand, the hand that was on jughead’s back migrating from between his shoulder blades to his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. “you’re safe. you’re safe here.” jughead nods. he knows.

archie takes a quick look at the door to his bedroom, making sure it’s closed, and looks back at jughead. the two boys connect, lips to lips once again, because it feels right. jughead hurts, and archie hurts with him. the tears cease, and jughead’s brow is knit together before he presses into archie firmly. his hand twists around the fabric of the other boy’s t-shirt, just trying to feel something else. 

archie’s holding jughead close, because he doesn’t want him to go anywhere. something feels so real, jughead’s other hand curling around the back of archie’s neck. they stay like that, just kissing. warm, together, grounded in archie’s room where it feels like the world outside doesn’t exist. their problems are puffs of dust that fly away with the wind drafting through archie’s open window.

archie feels the moisture of jughead’s tears against his own face when he pulls away, and jughead uses a thumb to wipe them, a crooked smile on his face. archie gets up and turns the light off, opening the window just a crack. jughead gets up to slide onto the air mattress, but archie grabs his wrist and gestures to his own bed. “we can share, if you want.” however small or unnoticeable, jughead nods. 

archie’s hand curls around the back of jughead’s neck, his dry hands scratching at the nape. they’re close, up against each other as each boy dozes off, just holding each other. it feels right. 

iv. 

jughead pads down archie’s stairs on saturday morning, the blazing sun leaking through the blinds as jughead squints against the light. he pours himself a cup of coffee that’s already made (with a little sticky note from fred telling the boys to help themselves, because he’s gone to work). he looks out the kitchen window, waving at betty on her morning run and feeling vegas at his feet. he leans down, his hand rubbing the dog’s head lovingly. 

jughead doesn’t know what to do until archie wakes up, so he grabs an apple and sits on the couch. he opens his laptop to write, his eyes still bleary with sleep. he writes a few sentences for his novel, not really getting out much of anything, consumed by thoughts of lust swirling in his head. he just wants to write about archie’s freckles and his shoulders, and how he’d looked in the morning light only moments ago when jughead had carefully climbed out of bed. jughead had even snapped a quick picture, which he knew was creepy, but the way archie had looked was too beautiful for jughead to not take advantage of. 

they're boyfriends now. after a long emotional talk and figuring things out like a thousand piece puzzle, they’d come to terms with things. they liked kissing, each other specifically, and it had to stop happening by circumstance. archie wanted jughead for himself, and jughead wanted a title to put on archie. boyfriend. 

he sips at his coffee, and archie comes down the stairs with messy hair and a tired but satisfied look on his face. “morning,” jughead smiles, putting his laptop on the cushion beside him and meeting archie in the kitchen. archie scratches at his head, letting a drawn out yawn escape his mouth. “mmm, hey.” archie’s voice is dripping with honey, deep and hoarse. it runs over jughead, sliding down his throat and warming him from the inside out.

“’s my dad home?” jughead shakes his head, leaning back against archie’s counter and gesturing to the note. archie hums in acknowledgement, his attention turning back to jughead. he’s looking out the window, a far-away look on his sleepy face. jughead’s demeanour is sleepy, hair sticking out every which way. one of archie’s shirts is hanging off his back, much too big for him. he looks soft, lazy, and archie’s heart is overflowing with warmth and love. 

“in that case…” archie leans forward, his lips against jughead’s. this feeling is familiar now, and jughead has memorized the feeling of archie’s lips on his. archie’s still warm from bed, his bare chest against jughead’s clothed one. jughead has a smile tugging on his lips, making archie laugh too. jughead, still connecting their lips, hops up onto the counter behind him as archie pins himself between jughead’s legs. archie lands one hand against jughead’s lower back, and jughead holds onto archie’s shoulders for support as he dips. jughead has his hand on archie’s chest like he’s taking an oath on the bible.

after closing archie’s kitchen curtains for complete privacy, they kiss for most of the morning, the sun illuminating each boy perfectly. both so beautiful, moving perfectly together in the sunlight and letting things run their course. kisses turning into french kisses, tongues on tongues and hands riding up t-shirts and down pyjama pants with nothing underneath. it’s easy, and familiar. 

jughead spits in his hand, but this time, it’s not for a spit-shake. 

v. 

archie’s on his way to his biology class, luckily alone, when he feels a hand on his left wrist as he gets yanked out of the hallway.

when the light turns on, he sees jughead standing there, a shit-eating grin splitting his face in two. 

“what the fuck, jughead? why are we in the janitor’s closet under the stairs? how did you even get in here?” jughead laughs. “i still have my key from when i was living under here.” archie sighs. “you kept the key that you stole from the janitor?” “he obviously doesn’t miss it, archie.” archie shrugs his shoulders, because he can’t argue. 

“i wanted some time with you. alone.” archie sighs, taking jughead’s hand. “you could have just texted me to meet in our spot. you didn’t have to pull me into a closet.” jughead shrugs. “but that’s no fun, archie. i have to keep you on your toes.” 

jughead leans in, kissing archie with soft lips and a hand on his cheek. his thumb rubs along archie’s jaw, and archie lets himself press against jughead. jughead leans back, hitting his head on the slanted wall above him. archie starts to giggle, and jughead does too, but he shuts archie up by kissing him again. 

they stay like that for a while, just enjoying being pressed up against each other in the janitor’s closet. it feels so secretive, and so cliche, but neither of them are going to say anything. it feels good to sneak around, even though they’ve been sneaking around for weeks. 

the bell rings outside of the door, and archie pulls away, refastening the strap on his backpack. “i have to get to biology. and so do you.” jughead rolls his eyes. “what a waste of time. i’m staying in here.” archie presses a quick kiss to jughead’s lips. “if i dont go either, people will be suspicious.” jughead nods. “true. thanks for taking one for the team.” archie giggles.

he kisses jughead one more time (because jughead is fucking intoxicating), and archie looks both ways before dipping out of the closet and closing the door behind him. he’s got swollen lips, and he can feels jughead’s sly smile still on his mouth. 

vi. 

the last big game of the season, and riverdale hasn't pulled through. treacherous rain is falling, soaking everyone in the stands and the players on the field. the whole friend group, except for archie, is sitting together in the stands, holding umbrellas and jackets above their heads in an attempt to stay dry. attempt is the key word. 

jughead is huddled in between betty and kevin, using their heat to stay warm. it’s the fourth quarter, last 3 minutes of the game, and the bulldogs only need one more touchdown to win the championship. 

jughead keeps his eyes on the boy with the 17 on his back, darting back and forth on the field as archie gets in position, crouched down to catch the ball when it’s headed for him. archie looks up into the stands, searching for jughead amongst the crowd, and finding him through the grate of his helmet. archie nods, as if to say “this one’s for you”, and grabs the ball as the timer starts again. 

 

archie runs faster than it seems his legs can carry him, but he makes it to the end of the field and touches the ball down on the wet grass. the whole crowd erupts in cheers as the buzzer goes, signifying that the riverdale bulldogs have won their 13th consecutive championship, this one credit to archie andrews. 

his whole team runs to grab and tug at archie, yelling in his face and congratulating him for winning them the championship, but archie breaks free. his whole team watches as he jogs lightly to the bleachers, and jughead gets the message.

jughead slides past their friends and meets archie half way up, all eyes on them. the rain is soaking jughead’s shoulders and hat, beads of water falling down both of their faces. archie’s eyes shine under the fluorescent light as he cracks a smirk at jughead, and jughead offers a silent congratulations. 

archie cups jughead’s wet face, feeling the whole town’s eyes on them. this time, it wasn’t in secret. they werent pushed back into a closet, or in jughead’s treehouse, or in archie’s bedroom, hoping fred didn’t hear the springs on archie’s bed creak. they were out in the open, rain pouring down on them like a newfound freedom. 

everything feels right when archie kisses jughead for the first time in public. it elicits whistles from the crowd, kevin screaming “i knew it!” at betty and veronica, and cheers and claps from everyone. jughead gets to cup archie’s face, hard, smiling into their kiss and feeling proud to be riverdale superstar archie andrews’ boyfriend. 

archie kisses jughead with a force and passion he had never felt before, because this was them. raw, natural, archie and jughead, in front of everyone. they didnt have to hide this anymore. the liberating feeling of kissing archie in front of this whole town made jughead feel like he had a whole new set of veins.

when they pull apart, jughead whispers “congratulations” against archie’s lips, and lets his thumbs wipe the water off of his face. archie’s smile could split the sky in half. “home?” jughead nods. “home.”

at school, they get to sit next to each other on the couches in the lounge and hold hands. they get to see veronica smile fondly at the two of them, and kevin feigning offence when veronica calls them her ‘favourite gays’. betty hugs archie, because she always had an inkling, and betty cooper is never wrong. when archie is in the locker room, he even gets a clap on the shoulder from reggie, of all people, and reggie just nods with a supportive smile on his lips. fred doesnt mind, at all, and he offers archie a supportive hug and a kiss on the forehead because he’s proud of his son. maybe he knew all along. 

they can kiss in the sunlight, in the moonlight, in the rain, or in the sun. they can kiss in archie’s bed, covered by the thin sheets in their own private world. they kiss at parties, under christmas lights and in the back of archie’s car. it’s natural, it’s real. it’s arch and jug. 

and it’s not a secret anymore.


End file.
